Excavaciones en Macedonia; Pella, Vergina - Aigai
Publicado en Grecia el 13 de Febrero, 2006, 10:22 por terraeantiqvae
PellaHistorical evidence relating to Pella, the capital of ancient Macedonia, is limited in extent. This capital of the greatest power in Greece throughout the entire Hellenistic period, can only be delineated by means of archaeological excavation. The results of the long-term, systematic excavations provide a picture of a large, wealthy, superbly organised city, in which the concepts of the grand-scale and the monumental were predominant.
History Pella was not the first capital of the Macedonian kingdom. Perdikkas, the inaugurator of the royal dynasty of the Argeadai, set out from the mountains of Upper Macedonia and settled in the southern part of the fertile plain of Central Macedonia, in the foothills of the Pierian mountains, near the river Haliakmon. Here, about the middle of the 7th c. BC, was founded Aigai as capital. Some centuries later, when Macedonia began to emerge from her isolation on to the stage of history, strategic considerations dictated a change of the site for the capital. It was the king Archelaos (413-399 BC), son of Perdikkas II and a major political figure, who probably saw the necessity to transfer the capital. He select the hitherto insignificant township of Pella on the north coast of the Thermaic gulf. The site of the new capital near the sea and in the easternmost part of the kingdom was of decisive importance with regard to the later Macedonian expansion to the east.
Palace Palace Archelaos Archelaos was one of the most important personalities in Macedonian history. A great innovator, he not only transferred his capital, but also oversaw the reform of the administration of the kingdom and the reorganisation of the army and the fleet. During his reign, a period of peace and creativity, Macedonia enjoyed great prosperity. Archelaos was careful to cultivate peaceful relations with the Greeks in the south and invited to his court major intellectual and artistic figures. Amongst them the tragedians Euripides and Agathon, the painter Zeuxis, the musician Timotheos, the epic poet Choirilos and others. According to tradition, Euripides spent the last years of his life at the court of Archelaos, where he wrote the tragedies Archelaos, which has not survived, and the Bacchae, one of his most important plays. Archelaos built a majestic palace at Pella which was decorated by Zeuxis, the greatest painter of the age (Aelian, Varia Historia XIV, 17).
Mosaic decoration, griffin tearing apart a deer, 312-300 BC Mosaic decoration, griffin tearing apart a deer, 312-300 BC Philip II and Alexander the Great The violent death of Archelaos interrupted the development of the state. His work was continued, after an interval of some decades, by Philip II (360-336 BC). Philip's efforts were not confined solely to the internal development, but were directed mainly to the expansion of Macedonian political power. During these years Pella reached the summit of her prosperity. It became the "greatest of the cities in Macedonia" (Xenophon, Hellenika V, 2, 13).
Alexander, grown up in Pella Alexander, grown up in Pella Its fame was spread throughout the entire known world by the conquests of Alexander the Great (336-323 BC). After Alexander's death, incessant disputes broke out between his successors, each of whom aimed at establishing himself on the Macedonian throne. These disputes only ended after many decades, with the ascent to the throne of Antigonos Gonatas (276-239 BC). Antigonos' descendants ruled the country wisely. The Macedonian capital at this period was not only a powerful political centre that determined the fortunes of Greece, but at the same time an intellectual and artistic centre.
The Romans Editor(s): fd Editor(s): fd Editor(s): fd Fuente: http://www.chain.to/index.php?did=105&sort=b&subject=view_article&id=2399 Vergina - AigaiExcavations at Vergina, have revolutionized Macedonian archaeology since the 1970s. A series of chamber tombs, unearthed here by Professor Manolis Andronikos (1919-92), are now unequivocally accepted as those of Philip II and other members of the Macedonian royal family. This means that the site itself must be that of Aigai, the original Macedonian royal capital before the shift to Pella, and later its necropolis. Finds from the site and tombs, the richest Greek trove since the discovery of Mycenae, are exhibited on the spot. The main tombs are displayed in situ; visitors walk down narrow underground passages into a climate-controlled bunker which allows them to see the ornamental facades and the empty chambers beyond. Overhead the earth of the tumulus has been replaced. ![]()
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Editor(s): fd Fuente: http://www.chain.to/index.php?did=90&sort=m&subject=view_article&id=2397 - © 2000– 2006 Macedonian Heritage - - Mosaic Floor Dionysos riding a Panther - - A Red-Figure Hydria - - Head of Alexander the Great - - Clay Figurine of Athena - - Devotional Statue of Isis - - Statue of Dionysos - - Asklepios Daugthers - - Incribed grave stele - - Mural paintings - - Silver ossuary - - Statues of Orestes and Electra - - Metal exhibits mainly from the necropolis of Kozani dating from the Iron Age to the 3rd century BC - - Examples of pottery, stonework, and koroplastics from all periods from Kozani prefecture - - Marble head of a female statue from Elane dated to the 4th century B.C. - - A gold fibula from the 2nd half of the 6th century BC - - Vessels with matt-painted decoration from the 14th century BC - - Clay figurine of a kore (young woman), dated to the second half of the 6th century B.C. - - Clay figurine of ancient Greek Goddess Athena - - A clay stand with matt-painted decoration from the 14th century BC - - Four Statues from the Heroon at Palatiano - - Kouros of Evropos - - A giant kouros - - Dionysos and muse - - Statue of Aphrodite - - Marble stele depicting a woman - - Statue of a woman - - Tomb III, probably belonged to Alexander IV - - The Funerary Pyre of Philip II - - The Coach of Philip II Ornamented with Ivory - - The Collapsed Heroon - - The Local God Olganos - - The Hunter and Boar Group - - A Bronze Hydria Kalpis - - A Statue of the Herron at Stratoni - - Clay Members of the Sanctuary of Ammon Zeus at Afytos - - Grave stele of the Roman period from Petres (2nd cent. BC) -
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